Steam & Excursion > If You Need Sand More Than A Headlight - Here's What You Do!

No one can doubt the inventiveness of a railroads master mechanic.  You give them a problem and they will always give you a solution, though, as her, it may not be beautiful.

In this photo taken in 1936 we see the pride and joy of the Winston Lumber & Timber Co. of Chehalis, Washington.  Climax #2 was originally built in Corry, PA by Climax for the Coal Creek Lumber Company of Chehalis in 1906.  This little 23-ton lokie served these two companies faithfully through more than 30 years of logging service.

As with many logging lokies there came times when modifications were needed to suit the individual operators desires.  As Chehalis, WA is a rainy place in Western Washington State, the lumber companies had a real need for sand on the rails so that the geared lokie would not slip on the often wet rails on the steep grades.  Since this line (like many others) operated primarily in daylight hours, the headlight was not seen as important as good sand supply.  For this reason, at some time in her past, #2 had her sand dome moved off the factory boiler mount and onto the bracket intended for the headlight so as to insure maximum flow for the all important sand!

The need for traction is also demonstrated by the crude piece of metal attached below the cylinders of the engine.  This metal was installed to divert the wet steam coming out of the cylinder cocks away from the drive wheels below so they do not become wet and loose traction as they try to climb the steep wet rails of the logging line.

Like I said, never under estimate the ingenuity of a logging lines master mechanic!

Martin



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 09/03/15 03:30 by LoggerHogger.

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Where is it? edited (caught Martin mid-edit bfore the additional info)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/03/15 03:40 by Railpax71.

I think that was Martin's point.

Martin, what's nuts about that is that the normal sand dome placement on a Class B Climax drops the sand right in front of the inner (second) axle on the lead truck.  There were separate sandboxes on the rear of the water tank to get the lead axle of the rear truck running in reverse.   But the front axle of the front truck did not have sand going to it on the 'stock' design.

That's a relocation of the stock sand dome on top of what also looks like the stock headlight bracket, just to get sand in front of the lead wheelset.   Amazing.  They must have been 'right on the edge' to put that much work into it to get one more wheelset to dig in better.

Seems like most geared steam owners considered a factory design to simply be a good place to start.  We'll take it from here.

Additionally, by moving the sand dome you now have a nearly straight down run of pipe out of the sand dome.  I would imagie that in the wet climate of western Wasthington the would help reduce sand clogging the pipe.  I know I've spent plenty of time with a hammer trying to break up a clogged sander pipe.

This proves there is a prototype for everything.

One of my future projects is to modify a "G-scale" 4-6-0 into a Ludlow & Southern project in which the engine had a worn out boiler.  Their shop forces replaced it with a Holt tractor engine (Holt was a corporate ancestor of today's Caterpillar).  The railroad ceased operations before the project was completed, and the caption in David Myrick's Railroads of Nevada and Eastern California Vol 2 said something to the effect that the "superstructure" envisioned for this machine was lost in the mists of history (or is left to the reader's imagination.)